Me and My Brothers

There is an old saying with which all too many of us are familiar. It is variously attributed to tribes in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or anywhere else that we (often wrongly) consider "foreign." I say that because frankly, I could easily imagine hearing this same sentiment, hell, I have heard this same sentiment, in rural Ohio, or Arkansas, or Texas. The saying goes like this:

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"Me against my brothers.

Me and my brothers against my cousins.

Me, my brothers, and my cousins, against the neighbors.

Me, my brothers, my cousins, and the neighbors against…"

You get the picture. It is not complex.

But I have a confession to make at this point. This sort of sentiment, which we generally and ethnocentrically attribute to tribal-based societies, works among modern Western sub-cultures as well. I myself feel this pull whenever the US Army comes under some form of verbal or even budgetary assault. And in my more generous moments, that sense of protectiveness can extend to the other military services, and the Air Force too.

At the same time, I maintain some intellectual distance, so that when I see a story about how my own culture is messing up, "by the numbers," I can throw the BS flag. Not all of those with my background can do the same. In fact, one could argue that the relentless jingoistic and mildly guilt-driven platitudes hurled towards the military these past 30 years have given members of the military a sense of entitlement. This certainly seems to be the case at the United States Air Force Academy.

Here is the bottom line to the story you will find here. Rape and drug use were apparently common at the Air Force Academy among the members of their football team. My bet is that they still are, in pockets, and probably growing. But a few years ago there was a sergeant who took his duty seriously. Given a tearful confession by a young female cadet, he said he would try to change that culture. And then he lived up to his word.

The sergeant recruited a football player/cadet, and together they amassed enough data to cause three convictions for sexual assault/rape. No big deal right? Just three? Well those were the first, at all, at USAFA since the 1990s. Moreover, the investigations by this straight shooting sergeant resulted in multiple expulsions for drug use. Yes, we expel cadets for drugs. Think about it people, do you want the folks with their finger on the nuclear trigger feeling cool and froody?

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That was 2012.

After these cases went in, and the "informant" program was made known, reports of sexual assaults doubled. As most who work in the field will tell you, this is a clear indicator that the victims feel the system might work. DOUBLED. Success, and good job USAFA…oh, wait a minute.

Then the Academy "Old Grads", the alumni and active-duty officers, got into the game. This discredits and brings shame to the entire USAFA community, and the entire US Air Force, and the officers who spoke out and up and got involved should be directly credited with the 100% drop in rape/sexual assault reporting. Myself, I hold them responsible and would love to hear from any and all who can specifically name and shame these (and no gender mistakes here) men. Why?

Because the next year the cadet/player who did the reporting was kicked out by the Air Force, and the sergeant who did the investigations was reassigned to the vital USAF job of emptying garbage. Want to guess which general ordered that? That was last year. Reports of sexual assault, unsurprisingly, plummeted at USAFA once again, and they are now in the sump. Of course, Congressionally-mandated report-wise, that means that rape dropped by 100% at USAFA. Which is probably what the Air Force wanted, because if there are no reports, there is no problem. Right?

Bullshit.

The United States Air Force has a very serious moral and criminal problem on its hands, at the United States Air Force Academy, right now. Not in the past, in the present. Women are being assaulted and raped. This has, by court martial records, been occurring for some time. There is a sub-culture among some of the cadets at the US Air Force Academy that feels entitled to treat women as chattel, and as desired, rape them.

There is an even more distressing sub-culture in the US Air Force itself which seeks to diminish these facts, place the blame elsewhere, and at worst pretend that these rapes never happened.

At civilian universities the alumni carry weight, when they carry weight, through their donations. Rich alumni can give, or choose not to give. At the USAFA, the alumni have legal authorities, granted by Congress, to give orders. They are the men that sit on the promotion boards of the officers currently at the Academy. In retirement, many also become rich. Their donations matter. But most morally disgusting is the fact that sometimes, when former Academy football players are actually put in charge, they fail in their moral duty.

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